This year, the Irish Farmers Journal published a new series on its digital platforms: 20 ways to spend €20,000.

The series was about identifying 20 of the best investments a dairy farmer could make on their farm.

Each investment was analysed based on the function of the investment, the cost and the potential return.

To bring the series to life, each of the investments covered will be discussed in further detail at Dairy Day.

In an interesting and interactive discussion, our panel will look to rank the best investments out there with the aim of helping guide future investment decisions.

Collars

Some of the investments the panel will be analysing on the day include, heat detection collars, grazing infrastructure, telehandlers, automatic calf-feeders and much more.

The panel will consist of three excellent speakers, Paul Hyland, Lisa Lynskey and Patrick Ryan from PTSB.

Paul Hyland is a dairy farmer hailing from Co Laois.

He is farming in partnership with his brother David across a number of units and running a very successful operation. Paul has a unique approach when it comes to investing in the farm and plans to offer the audience an insight into his decision making process.

Next up is Lisa Lynksey, a New Zealander farming in Taranaki, a famous dairy area on New Zealand’s North Island. Lisa and her husband Simon are making the long trip to Ireland to give Irish farmers an insight into their business. They are currently milking 1,600 cows across 520ha on a once-a-day system.

The New Zealand system is particularly low-cost with any investments made being strongly researched in advance.

Finally, Patrick Ryan from PTSB will be able to offer the audience a financial perspective on how they see the return on investments stacking up.

Profits

With pressure on milk prices, farmers will need to be careful about how they spend the profits earned in 2025. One of the key things to avoid is spending money in 2025 that will cost money in 2026, because margin is likely to be squeezed next year.

For example, investing in machinery might be seen in a high milk price year, but if machines are financed that means higher repayments in subsequent years. So, i's important that farmers are prudent with their investments.

The panelists will debate the best way to decide on an investment, while also making sure that the core farm business remains in a sustainable financial position.